Favourable outcome in a patient with penetrating intraocular BB pellet injury

Intraocular BB pellet injuries are a devastating form of ocular trauma with a poor prognosis. The penetration of the eye by the pellet causes a marked disruption of the intraocular contents that in most cases leads to enucleation. We describe a 15-year-old boy who suffered a penetrating intraocular BB pellet injury to his right eye and underwent primary repair of the injury followed by secondary vitrectomy and prophylactic panretinal photocoagulation. The postoperative management was complicated by a retinal detachment; however, this responded to a scleral buckling procedure. Eighteen months after the injury the acuity in the affected eye was 20/30 with a contact lens. To our knowledge this is the first case in which useful vision has been recovered in this type of injury.